Is French phonology closer to that of German or Spanish?

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German and French phonology is much closer than Spanish and French.

What on earth dose 'phonology' mean when it's at home?

I'm studying German and some of my classmates who have studied French too said German sounded a lot like French. I don't share their appreciation though. To me French sounds more like Portuguese than any other language.

French sounds me quite catala, rather than german. So its phonetic is closer to latin languages like spanish than germanic ones.

As far as the vowel sounds of the languages considered are concerned, many are common to French and German AND are absent in Spanish.

French <=> German
— "eu" in "deux" <=> "ö" in "schön"
— "eu" in "neuf" <=> "ö" in "Hölle"
— "e" in "le" <=> "e" in "Blüte"
— "u" in "butte" <=> "ü" in "Blüte"
— "ê" in "être" <=> "e" in "Bett"
— "o" in "porte" <=> "o" in "voll"

All vowel sounds common to French and Spanish exist in German as well. In fact, the entire vowel phonology of Spanish is only a subset of the French and German ones.

French <=> German <=> Spanish
— "a" in "arbre" <=> "a" in "Kamm" <=> "a" in "ojalá"
— "é" in "thé" <=> "ee" in "Seele" <=> "e" in "sobre"
— "i" in "riz" <=> "ie" in "Miete" <=> "i" in "primero"
— "o" in "orange" <=> "o" in "Kohl" <=> "o" in "todo"
— "ou" in "choux" <=> "u" in "Mut" <=> "u" in "sur"

The nasal vowel sounds are French only.

French and German "r" sounds similar: La rose-die Rose (r=h). Spanish "r" sounds quite different: La rosa (r=rr).

French "ch"=German "sch"=English "sh". Spanish language hasn't that consonant.

French sounds more like Portuguese! The nasal vowels, the alphabet.

<<French "ch"=German "sch"=English "sh". Spanish language hasn't that consonant.

>>

Yes it has. In some Andalusian varieties "ch" is realized as English "sh".

Many Spanish speakers in Argentina and Uruguay pronounce LL and Y like English "sh".

<<To me French sounds more like Portuguese than any other language.>>

<<French sounds me quite catala, rather than german. So its phonetic is closer to latin languages like spanish than germanic ones. >>

<<French sounds more like Portuguese>>



I must say, you gave a rather Heroic attempt at trying to deflect from the harsh and inevitable Truth of the matter, but the discussion opens with comparing French/Spanish/German only.

And you failed quite miserably I might add.

When attempting English both French and Mexican sound almost identical.

<<Many Spanish speakers in Argentina and Uruguay pronounce LL and Y like English "sh".>>

To my ear Argentinians have a "zh" sound for LL, which sounds like French J.

On the other hand, Spanish J and German CH are alike with no equivalent in regular French.

On the third hand (just borrow one), Spanish and German have a similar stuttery rhythm but French flows smoothly like slime out of a jar.

Spanish and German L are the same too. But German and Spanish do not flow alike at all. My German teacher speaks very good Spanish for a German but her intonation is quite strange . I couldn't describe it but it's a bit like a voice synthesizer kind of intonation. I don't think intonation of French speakers when they speak Spanish is particularly awkward on the other hand. What I find most amusing in German accent is how they pronounce Spanish S, that is, like Z in zoo. Sometimes my teacher even pronounces S like Spanish Z which is strange because the TH sound (like in Zapato) does not exist in German. Or maybe she learn it and liked a lot .